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Hi All,
I just signed up for free membership and would like to know more about this learning site and community. I’m thinking to upgrade to premium membership if this is for me.
I watched Brian’s CAGED system for beginner and he seems to explain in a way that I can understand better than many other sites but seems like you need to know the notes on the fretboard as a prerequisite.
Does AM has lessons on learning/memorizing fretboard? I think that might be good thing to know before learning the CAGED system.
Any reply or suggestion would be greatly appreciated.
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Hi James,
There is nothing on the site about memorizing the fret board. There are a lot of videos on YouTube on the subject. Just see what method appeals to you.
Most people learn strings 5 and 6 in relation to the root of the bar chords. I would try learning strings 4, 3,2 in relation to triad shapes. It’s important to identify the root within those shapes, as well as the CAGED shapes, as your landmark.
I highly recommend Active Melody as a great value. You can learn the fretboard and theory in the musical context of Brian’s lessons. Brian is a wonderful teacher, has assembled terrific learning resources and I have watched many members become quite proficient over the past several years.
John-
James,
Just a few landmarks that help me. Most people are pretty familiar with the first 3 frets. Fret 5 is easy to remember as you may use it to tune the guitar. Fret 7 is interesting because it mostly represents the open lower string above, ie. fret 7 A string is an E, Fret 7 D string is an A, fret 7 G string is a D, fret 7 E string is a B. Fret 12 is the the same as the open strings. Now you just need to get familiar with what’s in between. It all repeats above the 12th fret but you need to put some work in there, also, at some point.
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Hi John,
Thanks for your responses. Need clarification from your comments/suggestions?
1.) When you said “Most people learn strings 5 and 6 in relation to the root of the bar chords.” what do you mean exactly? can you point me to similar video in AM site? I can try to remember notes on string 6 and 5 but not clear on your statements above.
2.) When you said “try learning strings 4, 3,2 in relation to triad shapes.” what do you mean? triad shapes? is there videos in AM you can point me to?Sorry, I’m a very beginner. Learned playing guitar freshmen in college 40 years ago. Got busy with school and had not play since.
I’m 60 now and want to get back in it. Hopefully, this will be my hobby beside playing tennis. I know most of open chords in first position, fret 1, 2, and 3. My goal is to understand the fret board so I can play chords all over the neck, instead playing chords in just first 3 frets.
I’m overwhelmed with so much information and don’t know a good starting point for beginner like me. I try to figure out the order in which I need to learn. I feel like AM have a lot of good video but mostly not for a beginner like me. Maybe, I need to learn all the basics first and come back to join this community. I see a lot of good videos in this site but feel that it’s too advance for me.
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Hi James, Yes it can be overwhelming with so much information to choose from and where to start. The Microlessons are a good way to absorb info in smaller portions. As for learning the fretboard, the Essential Theory Course Module 2, Unit 1 discusses notes on the fretboard and has a 2 PDF’s for the 2,3,4 and 1,5,6 string sets. Below is the video ‘Trying to learn the guitar fretboard. Start Here! Memorize notes and chords shapes easily’. (This uses the 5th and 6th strings). It will help you move away from first position chords such as G,C and D in a 1,4.5 progression to the 3rd fret because of knowing the root on the 6th string is a G. the C is on the 5th string and D is also on 5th string and down 2 frets (upside down L Shape). A good lesson to demonstrate this in action at two positions on the fretboard is EP440. The important thing is to celebrate the small steps you take in your journey and make learning fun.
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hi Laurel,
Thank you so much for sharing this. The video you shared is perfect for me to start with in learning notes on 6 and 5 strings first and learning to move down the fret board with different chords. Once I learned from the above video, the EP440 will be next good one to watch and learn. This help me at least know where to start, instead of trying to memorize the whole fret board. Hopefully, the EP440 lesson with the L shape will help me tie everything together and understand the fret board better.
I have a lot of work to do now. 🙂
I agree with your statement, Laurel. Similarly with sport, you need to play with or against someone better than you in order for you to improve.
Thanks again for your guidance. I truly appreciate you’re taking the time to help other in the community.
Sincerely,
Jamesp.s. once I completed the watching/learning above video and EP440 lesson, I need to figure out what is next?
maybe, I will figure out what I need to learn next after completed above. Thanks again.
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Sorry, James, didn’t mean to overwhelm.
After learning the open chords, most people go on to learn bar chords. The name of the chord will be it’s note on the 6th or 5th string, depending on which string the chord starts on. All the notes you learn on the low 6th string are identical on the high E string.
When you start to learn the CAGED chord shapes it is important to locate the “root” notes, ie the note that names the chord. Each chord shape will have two or three root notes within. That will help you learn notes on the in between strings.
Likewise, when you go on to learn triads, which are the 3 notes that make a basic major or minor chords, you will discover different shapes on the fretboard. Triads are extremely important to understand as you continue to learn. Each triad will have a root note as one of it’s 3 notes which again names the triad. Finding and naming the triads is a great way to learn the rest of the fret board.
This takes time. Don’t try to learn everything at once. Over time whatever you learn will start to integrate in many different ways. Have fun and learn a few things that sound good in the meantime, even if you don’t understand everything. You will go back to them later with a new understanding.
You’ve got great retirement hobbies lined up. I’m jealous, I had to give up my beloved tennis due to knee issues.
John -
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I’m late to the party, but I’m always late on forums. Listen, James, I’m an old guy too. I have tried to learn guitar at a younger stage in life, but family, kids, job, sports just made learning guitar too much work. Now I’m old and retired and I’m playing every day. The fretboard. Ugg. I still have an app on my phone that randomly plays a note on the fretboard and then the user names it and you see how fast you can get at naming notes. Some people like to learn the 6th string because then you also know the first string. Then you learn the fifth string for your barre chords and that only leaves three more strings. What I did was learned the 1,3,5,7,9 positions and my 5 major and minor scale shapes and name the notes as I play them. From there it’s easy to figure out the names on the even number positions. The fretboard just becomes more and more familiar. There’s a lot of notes there and unless you have a unique mind, it will take some repetition, but you will get it. What dazzles me is people who can play string instruments that don’t have frets like the electric viola for example. The guitar is easy compared to certain other instruments that take unique talent to play. Maybe that’s why so many people learn guitar. If you can strum three open chords you can play guitar. On the subject of barre chords, I hate them. I do use them, but often just play the upper part of the barre chord or just the triad, which is why John mentioned that it’s good to know how to find those. I had to accept at my age that there is too much to learn in music for an old guy so I will always be a beginner at certain things but I’m advancing my playing with the things I love the most. Many lesson websites have a beginner section if you want one. Justin Guitar is one. He has a great beginner section and an eBook on music theory that I really thought was worth the 19 bucks. Brian has some good stuff on playing chords up and down the fretboard in some of his lessons. I don’t have the lesson numbers for you. One thing for sure, you can play the guitar without knowing a single note. You can play just knowing shapes. But imho, you need to learn that dang fretboard to feel free to move around on that thing. I make it fun and put it down when it becomes work. I’m not going to join a band and play professionally. No sense in turning this into work.
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